(New business/tender opportunity?) As flagged in a recent post, I am working with the World Bank and MoLSAMD (Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs & Disabled) in Kabul on two employment pilots.The Notices of Prequalification for both pilots – called PLACED – have now been cleared for publication. These will shortly appear on the UNDB … Continue reading →

The UK parliament’s Justice Select Committee has finally confirmed what we predicted in our blogs and advised the Committee as early as 2013. The so-called ‘rehabilitation revolution’, or contracting out of probation services, by the then Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, has been a complete failure. There has been a reduction in quality of service, “disappointing” … Continue reading →

The Ministry of Labour Social Affairs Martyrs & Disabled (MoLSAMD) in Afghanistan (the equivalent of DWP in the UK or DEEWR in Australia), with technical assistance from the World Bank, are about to begin the contracting of two pilot employment programmes. One aims to open up a formal migration channel for thousands of Afghanistan workers … Continue reading →

This article appeared in the Autumn 2017 edition of the Fabian Review: ‘A Public Offer’ One of the defining moments of the 2017 general election was the prime minister’s evasive response to a question on nurses having to use food banks. The assertion that there are people who work and are paid wages, and … Continue reading →

Whatever the enquiry finds, it is without doubt that Grenfell Tower went up like a dry stick because its refurbishment was procured at least in part on the basis of price. If the same fire had started in one of the gleaming new blocks in London’s docklands, it would not have spread. The people buying … Continue reading →

“Take back control” became a central theme of 2016 campaigns. The aftermath of both the EU referendum and the Trump victory in the US has seen a wealth of commentary on why this message resonated so strongly. The focus has tended to be on areas that have been ‘left behind’ by globalization. The impact of … Continue reading →

The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) have just commenced buying the new Work and Health Programme. This will replace the existing Work Programme, which has run since the coalition government came to power. It will be the layer of services, contracted out mainly to private sector ‘welfare to work’ providers, that is intended to … Continue reading →

If employment programmes were judged by their effectiveness in moving people out of poverty, would it make a difference to the way they are designed and managed? Two-thirds of children living in poverty have parents who work. Millions have been spent on employment support programmes. Evaluations and analysis of their effectiveness assess their efficacy in … Continue reading →

In this special guest blog, we hear from Bill Wells in response to Richard’s recent piece on changing the way children’s services are commissioned. Bill Wells worked in DWP, BIS, and its labour market predecessors, for over 35 years. As a labour market economist he has a national and international reputation. During this time he had … Continue reading →

When the state intervenes in the UK and takes a child into its care, it surely does so with all the best intentions. The intervention is instigated in response to and governed by strict rules on child welfare or ‘safeguarding’, made even tighter since the infamous, sad case of Baby Peter. It costs over £2.5 … Continue reading →